Apple has made three changes to its App Store policies for developers related to an August settlement with U.S.-based developers. The changes are an important if minor step towards a fairer future for all developers who target Apple’s platforms.
“The updates to the App Store Review Guidelines support new features in upcoming OS releases, better protect customers, and help your apps go through the review process as smoothly as possible,” Apple’s description of the changes explains.
There are three changes, and one is directly related to the class-action lawsuit settlement: Apple removed a clause from its App Store policies that forbid developers from using information about their own customers to contact them and inform them about alternative (e.g. non-Apple) payment methods. Now, developers can perform acts like “sending an individual user an email about other purchasing methods after that individual signs up for an account within the app.” How noble of Apple.
Granted, this change is limited: It applies only to developers in the U.S., and Apple still doesn’t allow developers to communicate payment alternatives in their own apps.